LAST YEAR, U.S. hospitals saw their first cases of Ebola. The disease, which has no cure and kills 50 percent of those infected, has many Americans on edge. And ifyour upcoming travel plans include stops in West Africa, you shouldbe. However, for the average Marin resident, the chance ofcontracting Ebola is negligible.

What’s more, says Greenbrae-based infectious disease
specialist Gregg Tolliver, the best way to keep Ebola at bay
is by supporting Ebola relief organizations abroad. (Read:
open your pocketbooks.) “We can lower our risk of getting it
here,” he says, “by helping doctors contain it to West African
countries already hard hit.” Partners In Health ( pih.org) and
Doctors Without Borders ( doctorswithoutborders.org) are
two he personally recommends.

In the meantime, for the average American, the risk ofdying of flu complications is exponentially higher than therisk of contracting Ebola, Tolliver says. In 2009, for example,when flu vaccines were in short supply, the H1N1 strain of flukilled more than 12,000 people in the United States. And fludeath estimates tend to be extremely conservative: “The flucauses inflammation and blood clotting issues that can leadto heart attacks and stroke. Deaths that occur as a result arenot included in the official numbers,” Tolliver says. “That’swhy getting flu shots is so important.”In case the worst does happen and Ebola surfaces inour corner of the world, local health providers are beingeducated on how to react.“We have been prepping for a while by reworking proce-dures and setting up proper screening processes,” Tolliversays. “I think hospitals saw what happened in Dallas [wherethe first known Ebola patient in this country died] and arenow more prepared to react.”Tolliver isquick to pointout that for theaverageAmerican, therisk of dying offlu complicationsis exponentiallyhigher than therisk ofcontractingEbola.

Is Ebola a Threat?One Marin expert says the best defense against the disease might besupporting doctors on the front lines. BY DAWN MARGOLIS DENBERG